€3.92bn Rural Development Programme gets EU go-ahead

Formal adoption this week by the European Commission of Ireland’s Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 cleared the way for €3.92 billion of public money, mostly targeted to support agriculture and forestry on more than one million hectares.

It is designed to put about 60% of Ireland’s agricultural land under contract, for restoring, preserving and enhancing ecosystems related to agriculture and forestry, aiming for increased biodiversity, better water management and preventing soil erosion.

In addition, almost 10% of Irish agricultural holdings will be restructured and modernised.